


No Regerts

by Dokuhan



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Cultural Insensitivity on JJ's part, M/M, Mild Language, Otabek being a bit of a dick, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 17:32:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11040936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dokuhan/pseuds/Dokuhan
Summary: For the #SASO2017 prompt: Otabek is a tattoo artist and when JJ asks him to tattoo Otabek's name onto his skin, Otabek decides he doesn't want to and picks the first thing that comes to mind insteada.k.a. the origins of JJ's 'JJ' tattoo???





	No Regerts

Otabek would be lying if he said he _liked_ most of the clientele that came into their shop. Sure, he didn’t hate anybody in particular (because that would be ridiculous and he would have to seriously rethink is position as a tattoo artist) and there were a decent few that he enjoyed talking to. But for the most part? No, not so much.  
  
It really should have been expected, they were just off the local college’s fraternity row and college students often made the worst decisions. Viktor had already established a firm, “we don’t tattoo anyone in an inebriated state” policy, which cut down a lot of issues, but...but kids were also really stupid sober too.  
  
(Yuri snorted, “Big talk for someone that could still be considered a kid too.”  
  
“Funny, I didn’t think the middle school let out so early.”  
  
“Fuck off, Beka.”)  
  
It was hard being a contributing factor to someone’s Bad Decision, and his first year on the job he lived with a lot of guilt. After a while though, Otabek managed to establish his own set of morals and rules to minimize that. He took one rule so closely to heart that he even wrote it down and taped it over his station.  
  
He would never tattoo the name or initials of someone’s significant other.  
  
A parent or a child? Yes, completely, no problem. A pet? He’d be wary, but consider it. A friend or lover? Absolutely not.  
  
A few of his colleagues were a little bit more lax about it, so he’d seen a few of their customers come in weeks later with tears in their eyes and begging for a cover up. He didn’t want to go through that. He could break his other rules, but that one was firm.  
  
But then...JJ. Fucking. JJ.  
  
Otabek really didn’t have much in the way of regular customers, he wasn’t as firmly established as Viktor or Georgi and didn’t come with a following like Mila had. The only two people he saw regularly were Yuri (and even that was only when he was in town), the woman who ran the bar just down the street, and JJ - who went to the fraternity Kappa Something Whatever.  
  
(He mentioned the name once, Otabek didn’t really care that much. Sometimes JJ’s accent distracted him a little so he tried to move the conversation along, although he did like the way certain words sounded.)  
  
“Otabek, my man!” JJ had exclaimed one day, waltzing into the store like he was gliding on ice, “Long time no see.”  
  
Otabek resisted the urge to roll his eyes, “Three months isn’t that long, JJ. You’ve gone longer without visiting us.”  
  
“Summer just felt so long this year, I missed your smiling face.” He plopped down on the chair, tenting his fingers and schooling his expression into something serious, “I need you do do me a favor.”  
  
“Oh, really?”  
  
“You know my fiancée, Isabe—”  
  
“Fiancée? You’re 21-years-old.”  
  
“Love knows no age.”  
  
“Please don’t tell me this is leading up to that. I don’t do wedding band tattoos.”  
  
“No! Not that, at least not yet,” JJ leaned in, “We broke up. I said something I shouldn’t have and I messed things up, so I want to make it up to her.”  
  
“Okay…?” Otabek narrowed his eyes, wondering what this was really all about. He barely knew JJ to begin with, how was he supposed to help with some romantic downfall? Even if they had that kind of relationship, he wasn’t even sure if he would _want_ to get them back together.  
  
“I want to show her I’m dedicated to this, so…” he tapped his bicep, “Put it right here.”  
  
_That_ was enough to make Otabek scowl. He stood up and tapped his sign, “You know the rules, JJ.”  
  
“Please, you can break them just this once.”  
  
“No, I can’t. Sorry.”  
  
JJ huffed and crossed his arms, leaning back in the chair. Otabek hoped it would just be a momentary thing and then he’d be on his way to find another artist that was dumb enough to follow through with his request. But luck was not on his side, because something positively evil crossed his eyes. “Otabek...that’s Russian right?”  
  
Otabek arched an eyebrow, “Kazakh. We we went over this before.”  
  
“But that’s like, really similar to Russian, right?”  
  
“I don’t know, are Quebecois and French close enough?”  
  
“That’s not what I mean! I mean they’re written the same way, with those different letters?”  
  
“Cyrillic? Yes...why?”  
  
JJ smirked, “I bet Otabek looks really nice the way it’s supposed to be written. So...maybe you could…?”  
  
Oh no. No fucking way. Otabek couldn’t believe what he was hearing, he couldn’t even hold back, “Are you kidding me?”  
  
“If I’m dedicated enough to get my tattoo artist's name on my body, then surely I can get Isabella’s initials. Your sign doesn’t have any rule about that.”  
  
At that moment two thoughts crossed Otabek’s mind. The first had been to pick up JJ and forcibly throw him out of the shop, hoping that he’d never rear his (admittedly, somewhat attractive) head in there ever again. JJ had a few inches on him though and while he had a bit more muscle, he wasn’t sure if that would work in his favor.  
  
The second was probably the pettiest he’d ever been.  
  
“Fine. I’ll do it. But on one condition, I pick the location and you can’t argue about it.”  
  
“What? Come on!”  
  
“Well, I guess you’re going to have to stay single then.”  
  
JJ groaned, “Okay. Fine. I’ll do it.”  
  
“Good. Now hand me your ID.”  
  
“You know I’m legal.”  
  
“New policy, I have to make a copy of it for us to keep on record. I’ll give it back to you when we schedule the appointment.”  
  
When JJ finally did hand over his license, Otabek knew he was committed to teaching him a harsh lesson.

* * *

 

It all finally came to a head a week later with JJ’s scheduled appointment.  
  
Otabek wrote out his name on a piece of paper and handed it over, “The actual design is going to be a surprise.”  
  
JJ glanced it over, “It doesn’t look that different…”  
  
“Last chance to back out. I’m sure you could find someone else—”  
  
“No, it has to be you!” It was sudden, and really kind of expected. JJ must have noticed and caught himself, “I mean...I like the work you do, I’d like to stick with it.”  
  
“What are you going to do after you graduate and can’t come bother me?”  
  
“I’ll come back, I’ll always come back.”  
  
Otabek felt the tips of his ears go warm at that and turned away before it could reach his cheeks, “Right. Okay,” he cleared his throat, “It’s going on your lower back.”  
  
“A tramp stamp?”  
  
“Don’t call it that. I need you to take off your shirt and lower your pants.”  
  
JJ looked a little put out, but stood up anyway. He pulled his hoodie over his head and unbuttoned his shirt before sliding it off his shoulders.  
  
Otabek’s eyes glued themselves to the figure in front of him, drinking in every muscle and sharp edge. He swallowed and hope he wasn’t being _too_ obvious. He quickly turned to his equipment when JJ reached for his belt, “Lie on your stomach. It’s going to be right on the bone so it’ll hurt more.”  
  
When Otabek pressed the needle to JJ’s back, he heard a mumbled hiss in Quebecois. “One last chance,” he said, pulling the needle away.  
  
“I’ll be fine, I’m just not used to it,” he tensed up his shoulders and relaxed, “keep going.”  
  
The first half hour was quiet, mostly just filled with the hum of the machine and the occasional hiss from JJ. It wasn’t a particularly complex design so it wouldn’t take more than a session, but it was still going to take some time.  
  
Eventually JJ opened his mouth, “Hey, Otabek...when did you move here.”  
  
“Hm,” he thought about it for a second, “just after my 16th birthday. My mother got an opportunity to teach here and decided it was worth a chance.”  
  
“Was it hard?”  
  
“It was, English is difficult in the beginning. You probably understand that.”  
  
“I grew up around both...do you ever miss home?”  
  
“All the time.”  
  
“Yeah. Me too.”  
  
Otabek brushed his thumb along JJ’s spine, wiping some of the ink. He lingered for a moment, taking the time to watch his shoulder blades tighten and then relax once again. “Have you spoken to her at all?”  
  
“Who?”  
  
“Your fiancée?”  
  
“Oh Izzy, uh…” he cleared his throat, “no, not yet.”  
  
Otabek hummed, continuing his work.  
  
“Do you have a nickname?”  
  
“Everyone here calls me ‘Beka’.”  
  
“‘Beka’...I think I like that.”  
  
And something about the way JJ said it made Otabek like it a little more too.

* * *

“Okay. Ready to see?” Otabek said, tapping the back of JJ’s leg. “It’s still raw obviously, but if you take good care of it I think you’ll be happy with the result.”  
  
JJ pushed himself off of the chair and walked over to the full length mirror. When Otabek held up another mirror to show off his back he gasped, “Are those _my initials_? What?”  
  
“I figured the only person you’re one hundred percent committed to is yourself. Thanks for letting me know I have to add my name to the list of things I won’t do.”  
  
“ _Malcommode..._ ” JJ mumbled and rubbed his hands down his face, and maybe, just maybe Otabek felt a little bad. But then he seemed to perk back up, “It looks nice though.”  
  
“Thank you, I tried to go for something subtle.” Well, as subtle as one’s own initials could be.  
  
“I still think your name would have looked better though,” he added with a wink.  
  
That time Otabek knew his face lit up, he quickly put the mirror down and stood up, “You still have Aquaphor right? If you don’t you can get another tub when Viktor rings you up,” he pulled off his gloves.  
  
“Viktor? Wait, Beka…”  
  
“I’m going to take lunch before my next appointment.” He shut the door behind him when he darted out.

* * *

JJ didn’t show up again for a month after that. Otabek didn’t have to force himself not to think about it, but sometimes it would cross his mind and he’d go back to feeling like shit.  
  
When JJ did turn up again, it was actually way past closing time. It was Otabek’s night to stay behind and clean up, and he almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the door open. He swung around with the broom, ready to attack.  
  
Luckily JJ had decent reflexes because he managed to catch the brook, “Whoa! Beka, calm down it’s me!’  
  
“What are you doing here? We closed an hour ago.”  
  
“I know, I get that, I just had to talk to you.”  
  
He lowered the broom, still feeling a little shaken up, “Coming to get revenge?”  
  
“What? Of course not!”  
  
“Then what is it?”  
  
“I need a favor from you.”  
  
“What? Oh my god, look I know what I said, but I’m not putting—”  
  
“No, no, that’s not it. Izzy and I are done, that was settled a while ago actually,” JJ leaned in close, “But I actually need two favors from you.”  
  
Otabek’s chest tightened a bit, “O-oh…? What then?”  
  
“First, let me take you to dinner, I found this great shawarma place on the way over here. And when we’re done with that,” he tapped his own bicep, “I want my initials here too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe my first YOI fic is JJBek. Who am I?


End file.
